 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Monday, June 05, 2006
Taiwan Trip Day 2
On my goodness, the previous entry was damn long hor? gosh gosh~ i'll try my best to make it brief... but then how to fully bring out the enjoyment of the trip liddat? gossshh~ bear with me kay? 8 more entries to go...
2nd Day morning: we took the MRT (also stands for Mass Rapid Transit in Taiwan) (or rather known as 捷運 [jie yun] there) to 淡水 (DanShui).
Pretty much like our own MRT stations
The MRT in Taipei is pretty much similar to what we have in Singapore, but somehow more organised. when ppl go up and down the escalator, they do keep to the right, like it is some social moral rule that everyone should follow, and hey, it's a damn good system! if you're rushing for time, you can really use the extra space on the left to whish past ppl who can afford to slow down. and at the waiting line, people do line up behind the drawn white lines. the white lines are drawn in such a way that they do help to ease up the human traffic flow, allowing ppl to alight from the train more smoothly. It's all these little little moral systems that Taiwanese have that makes me realise Singaporeans suck.
it was pretty early in the morning, like 9+am, so none of the shops along 淡水老街 (DanShui Old Street) were opened yet. so we walked along the coast line, hoping to reach 漁人碼頭 (Fishermen's Wharf). It was quite a nice and quiet walk, just too bad the shops on the way weren't open. :(
Nice coastal view~~
Us having fun on a small stage for special performances on weekend nights
A lot of nice places and sceneries along the way. This is just but one of them.
Halfway, we realised 漁人碼頭 was very far, so we took the 公車 (public bus) there. 漁人碼頭 was disappointing, there's nothing much there expect for a couple of buildings and a bridge called 情人橋. It felt so tourism-oriented and fake. Very commercialised. Yeok and CL looked like they enjoyed taking pictures there tho. haha! the wind was very strong tho, my hat almost got blown away.
The boring and nothing-to-see Fishermen's Wharf
After half an hour there, we decided to go back to 淡水 for lunch and took the 公車 again... and realised it was the EXACT SAME one we took there. (the graffiti on the bus is the same!) the bus driver must have found us familiar. haha~
Taiwan is full of shops with cheeky names. This one is a seafood restaurant.
we roamed the 小巷 for a food stall, and saw one that looks like someone's house and we just went in. whoot~ the food was cheap and good! the service in taiwan is always not bad, even for a little food stall like this! while we're eating, the children of the owner of the shop came back from school, he looked pretty cute and kept smiling and running around.
Nice little cosy shop. I like~
After lunch, we went to CKS Memorial Hall and it started pouring. bah~ but anyway, there's nothin' much. I don't really like these "memorial" places 'cause perhaps i'm not a very historical person. I did enjoy looking at CKS's own personal letters and his handwriting. :) CKS Memorial Hall is built very symmetrically, and it just felt very out of place with the rest of the places in Taipei. Too neat, too 刻意...
Oh, and looking at the soldiers marching up and down for the changing of guards was fun too. but their guards had an electric fan position behind them to cool them... so un-army-like. so welfare...
The mini-model of CKS Memorial Hall in the Memorial Hall
it was evening when we left the place. it was still pouring and we were almost soaking wet. took the MRT again and went up north to 士林 (Shih Lin). Woah~ 士林 is definitely a shopping paradise, for both food and other stuff. We went to eat first and gorged down all the interesting looking food!! food is definitely one of the greatest assets of taiwan!
The Shih Lin Food Market
豪大大雞排 - is really 大!
芒果刨冰 - 溶在口裡，不溶在手裡! Literally!
大餅包小餅 - Interesting concept, nice taste!
官財板 - A weird sounding name, the most delicious thing i've ever eaten!!!!!!
The Food Market is really packed with a lot of food stalls~ u can see the stall owners fighting for customers and literally grabbing them. so, a tip for those who is going. take a quick tour around the market first, do NOT stop outside ANY of the stalls, come out of the market, decide what food you want to eat and which stall to go to, take a quick second tour to confirm which stalls you've short listed, come out again, confirm which stall, then go STRAIGHT to that stall! if not, you'll end up being pulled by the stall owner into the stall, and you start to regret when u see the next neighbouring stall seems more popular.
A lot of food stalls... hell lot of people as well!
Then, it was 士林夜市 (ShihLin Night Market) where the streets are filled with fashion shops. It's definitely more happening than 西門 and the traffic flow is more dangerous (i'm talking abt motorbikes and cars). there will suddenly be a "poot poot" behind u and u'll see motorbikes coming ur way while you're looking at the clothes. pretty scary, but in a way, fun as well. haha~ clothes were ok, our singapore queensway standard, but not very cheap either, all around S$25 to S$60. not really worth it. almost tempted to buy a doraemon polo tee, but dun hav size and colour. haiz, too bad la. fated one. haha~
Not a lot of people 'cos it juz rained
the whole night market is actually made up of a few streets of stalls, and the whole place is like a blardy maze. by the end of 2 hours, our legs were giving way and most of us were walking in weird manner that makes the donkey dancing in Nanny McPhee look terribly normal.
and so, we got ourselves into 星巴克 (Starbucks), ordered black oil (aka coffee and caffeine) and rested our feet. whoot~ i love the chinese translations of the international favourites, which includes Giordano, Watsons, etc.
Resting at 星巴克
After that, we're all too tired and went back to hotel. this day was packed, and rushed, but totally fun. Looking forward to tomorrow as we move out of 台北.
Trivia for the misinformed
台灣 (Taiwan) is really the whole island (plus a few outside island). 台北 (Taipei) is just one of the states that make up Taiwan, and so is 高雄 (GaoHsiung) and 花蓮 (HuaLien). Then every state has a state central, like a main city, and is most often the place with the word 市 (Shih) added to the end the state name, like 台北市 (Taipei Shih). Don't get too confused over this.
[to be continued]...
2nd Day morning: we took the MRT (also stands for Mass Rapid Transit in Taiwan) (or rather known as 捷運 [jie yun] there) to 淡水 (DanShui).
Pretty much like our own MRT stations
The MRT in Taipei is pretty much similar to what we have in Singapore, but somehow more organised. when ppl go up and down the escalator, they do keep to the right, like it is some social moral rule that everyone should follow, and hey, it's a damn good system! if you're rushing for time, you can really use the extra space on the left to whish past ppl who can afford to slow down. and at the waiting line, people do line up behind the drawn white lines. the white lines are drawn in such a way that they do help to ease up the human traffic flow, allowing ppl to alight from the train more smoothly. It's all these little little moral systems that Taiwanese have that makes me realise Singaporeans suck.
it was pretty early in the morning, like 9+am, so none of the shops along 淡水老街 (DanShui Old Street) were opened yet. so we walked along the coast line, hoping to reach 漁人碼頭 (Fishermen's Wharf). It was quite a nice and quiet walk, just too bad the shops on the way weren't open. :(
Nice coastal view~~
Us having fun on a small stage for special performances on weekend nights
A lot of nice places and sceneries along the way. This is just but one of them.
Halfway, we realised 漁人碼頭 was very far, so we took the 公車 (public bus) there. 漁人碼頭 was disappointing, there's nothing much there expect for a couple of buildings and a bridge called 情人橋. It felt so tourism-oriented and fake. Very commercialised. Yeok and CL looked like they enjoyed taking pictures there tho. haha! the wind was very strong tho, my hat almost got blown away.
The boring and nothing-to-see Fishermen's Wharf
After half an hour there, we decided to go back to 淡水 for lunch and took the 公車 again... and realised it was the EXACT SAME one we took there. (the graffiti on the bus is the same!) the bus driver must have found us familiar. haha~
Taiwan is full of shops with cheeky names. This one is a seafood restaurant.
we roamed the 小巷 for a food stall, and saw one that looks like someone's house and we just went in. whoot~ the food was cheap and good! the service in taiwan is always not bad, even for a little food stall like this! while we're eating, the children of the owner of the shop came back from school, he looked pretty cute and kept smiling and running around.
Nice little cosy shop. I like~
After lunch, we went to CKS Memorial Hall and it started pouring. bah~ but anyway, there's nothin' much. I don't really like these "memorial" places 'cause perhaps i'm not a very historical person. I did enjoy looking at CKS's own personal letters and his handwriting. :) CKS Memorial Hall is built very symmetrically, and it just felt very out of place with the rest of the places in Taipei. Too neat, too 刻意...
Oh, and looking at the soldiers marching up and down for the changing of guards was fun too. but their guards had an electric fan position behind them to cool them... so un-army-like. so welfare...
The mini-model of CKS Memorial Hall in the Memorial Hall
it was evening when we left the place. it was still pouring and we were almost soaking wet. took the MRT again and went up north to 士林 (Shih Lin). Woah~ 士林 is definitely a shopping paradise, for both food and other stuff. We went to eat first and gorged down all the interesting looking food!! food is definitely one of the greatest assets of taiwan!
The Shih Lin Food Market
豪大大雞排 - is really 大!
芒果刨冰 - 溶在口裡，不溶在手裡! Literally!
大餅包小餅 - Interesting concept, nice taste!
官財板 - A weird sounding name, the most delicious thing i've ever eaten!!!!!!
The Food Market is really packed with a lot of food stalls~ u can see the stall owners fighting for customers and literally grabbing them. so, a tip for those who is going. take a quick tour around the market first, do NOT stop outside ANY of the stalls, come out of the market, decide what food you want to eat and which stall to go to, take a quick second tour to confirm which stalls you've short listed, come out again, confirm which stall, then go STRAIGHT to that stall! if not, you'll end up being pulled by the stall owner into the stall, and you start to regret when u see the next neighbouring stall seems more popular.
A lot of food stalls... hell lot of people as well!
Then, it was 士林夜市 (ShihLin Night Market) where the streets are filled with fashion shops. It's definitely more happening than 西門 and the traffic flow is more dangerous (i'm talking abt motorbikes and cars). there will suddenly be a "poot poot" behind u and u'll see motorbikes coming ur way while you're looking at the clothes. pretty scary, but in a way, fun as well. haha~ clothes were ok, our singapore queensway standard, but not very cheap either, all around S$25 to S$60. not really worth it. almost tempted to buy a doraemon polo tee, but dun hav size and colour. haiz, too bad la. fated one. haha~
Not a lot of people 'cos it juz rained
the whole night market is actually made up of a few streets of stalls, and the whole place is like a blardy maze. by the end of 2 hours, our legs were giving way and most of us were walking in weird manner that makes the donkey dancing in Nanny McPhee look terribly normal.
and so, we got ourselves into 星巴克 (Starbucks), ordered black oil (aka coffee and caffeine) and rested our feet. whoot~ i love the chinese translations of the international favourites, which includes Giordano, Watsons, etc.
Resting at 星巴克
After that, we're all too tired and went back to hotel. this day was packed, and rushed, but totally fun. Looking forward to tomorrow as we move out of 台北.
Trivia for the misinformed
台灣 (Taiwan) is really the whole island (plus a few outside island). 台北 (Taipei) is just one of the states that make up Taiwan, and so is 高雄 (GaoHsiung) and 花蓮 (HuaLien). Then every state has a state central, like a main city, and is most often the place with the word 市 (Shih) added to the end the state name, like 台北市 (Taipei Shih). Don't get too confused over this.
[to be continued]...
